


Water's Sweet, but Blood is Thicker

by hauntedd



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Found Family, Gen, Season/Series 03, Slice of Life, Sort Of Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 20:20:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3868474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hauntedd/pseuds/hauntedd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Mom, you have a <i>sister</i>?"  Oscar asks, disbelieving.  "We have an <i>aunt</i>?" </p><p>"Sisters, Oscar.  Mommy has <i>sisters</i>. And you have <i>aunts</i>."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Water's Sweet, but Blood is Thicker

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in some hypothetical future where Helena is no longer in captivity & I got my Ukrainian from google translate, so if something is wrong, just hit me up. :)

Alison rushes around the garage getting things ready for the day. There are campaign signs to distribute and Donnie has to take the car around the neighborhood for the daily rounds. It’s a busy morning and then there’s the matter of the sitter. Donnie doesn’t quite know who is coming to watch the kids, but it’s best left for later. Once she’s here it’s not like he can object to what is occurring. 

She picks up the pamphlets and heaves them under her arm, hoping that she’s back before her visitor so that Donnie isn’t the one to greet her. 

However, fate isn’t on her side. The blonde is seated on their living room sofa while Donnie stands over her, every muscle in his body tense and wary. Well, this won’t do. 

“Hello sestra Alison.” If Helena has noticed Donnie’s discomfort, she isn’t showing it. Thank heavens for small miracles. “You have very nice house. More room than brother sestra’s apartment.” 

“Thank you, Helena.” Alison smoothens out some wrinkles from the bottom of her shirt and forces a smile onto her face. It's thin and pained, but Helena meets it with a toothy grin. Her mind wanders for a moment, idly wondering if this masked nervousness is the closest thing to affection that Helena has received and what she can do to fix it. 

A gift basket, perhaps? Maybe a baby shower when Helena's closer to term? They'd have to reinforce the fence, lest the neighbors see all four of them in the backyard, but that could be nice. A bit of normalcy after Helena blew up the military base with all of the boy clones in it. 

Well, no. Helena blew up the _Castor_ clones. Tony is a boy, but he's one of the gi— _good_ clones, even if she hasn't met him yet. 

Tony is her estranged _brother_. These Castor people, if any survived, are _not_ , despite the shared origins. 

“Alison, can I just talk to you for a sec?” Donnie hisses, breaking her train of thought. 

“Of course, Donnie," Alison replies, her tone clipped, because it is definitely not okay. There is no talking. Helena is here and while she may not be entirely comfortable with the idea of this woman around her kids, there are no other options. "Helena, there’s plenty of food in the fridge. Just—help yourself and we will be back in a jiff, alright?” 

Donnie pulls at her elbow and leads her into the hall. She raises her eyebrows so high they brush against the tips of her bangs and she braces herself for another discussion about the rules of clone club. Like everything else, while they are a _team_ , she gets final say in matters regarding the kids and their family's safety. 

“Ali—I’m not sure this is a good idea. When you said leave the kids with your sister, I thought you meant _Cosima_.” 

“A man almost chloroformed our kids and burnt down the house, Donnie. What would _Cosima_ do in a situation like that, hm?” 

Cosima, seriously? Cosima would probably befriend whatever miscreant came to their door. After all, she dated _Delphine_ who let that vile man _touch her_ after promising that it was a simple favor and that she would be _safe_ while pretending to be Sarah. She'd been violated! That was certainly not safe or simple. 

Cosima is a terrible judge of character. 

“Didn’t she build that thing that took out Rachel’s eyeball?” 

Yes. Rachel's eyeball. The source of all her problems of late—well, no, all her problems not related to Marci _Flipping_ Cotes. She'd like to redistrict that woman to the second bay in her garage, frankly.

“ _Built it._ In an emergency, there won’t be time to build things. You need someone who can act—“ 

“So you’re letting the serial killer babysit," Donnie huffs and rolls his eyes. _Honestly_. Compared to the way he quit being a monitor, this is nothing. Helena is _family_ and he is being rude. 

“Sarah says she’s excellent with children,” Alison replies, choosing to ignore her husband. “Kira adores her, and if something happens, Helena can handle a weapon.” 

“Alison—“ 

“We have no other option. Cosima is out doing something with that science friend of hers, Sarah is off protecting us elsewhere, Felix has a date, I have to campaign, and you have to go move some merchandise.” Alison smiles at him and fixes the collar of his polo shirt. Just because they’re dealing medicinal supplements doesn’t mean that his collar should be sloppy. They’re pillars of the community, after all. “Unless you want to call Susan Teller—“ 

“I am _not_ apologizing to Susan Teller.” 

Of course not. To be fair, having gone to Donnie's holiday parties, she is quite the witch. But, more importantly, she's won. 

“Fine, it’s settled then.” 

"Ali—" 

Donnie stops talking when the kids come downstairs and Alison exhales and embraces Gemma who has been clingy of late. Considering the teen years are getting closer every day, she chooses to enjoy this moment with her daughter. 

With a warning glare at Donnie, she leads the kids back into the kitchen, where Helena is stuffing Cheerios into her mouth. It's pretty tame in comparison to the _dried ramen_ at Art's apartment, so she doesn't mind. 

“Kids, this is your Auntie Helena." Alison watches as the kids take it in, Oscar's mouth is hanging wide open, and Gemma slams her body closer to Alison's thigh. She's always been shy for the first few minutes when it comes to new people, and this is no exception. 

"Mom, you have a _sister_?" Oscar asks, disbelieving. "We have an _aunt_?" 

"Sisters, Oscar. Mommy has _sisters_. And you have _aunts_." 

Donnie stares at Alison and she squeezes his hand. This clone club stuff is difficult for him, and Alison appreciates his willingness to jump in with both feet. 

"Does this mean we get more birthday presents this year?" 

And now Gemma is warmed up and social. It really only takes a minute, and it usually starts with something inappropriate. Like that. 

"Gemma!" 

Helena comes closer, lowering herself down to the kids' level and inspecting them. Her eyes study them both intensely and smiles, her grin toothy and white. Alison exhales, and some of the tension in her body relaxes. 

“These are your babies?” 

“Yes, this is Gemma, and this is Oscar.” 

“Why is your hair blonde?” Oscar asks with that tone she doesn't care for—he's quite the snarky kid. He kind of reminds her of Sarah, which is both comforting, and worrisome. 

“I dyed it," Helena answers with a shrug. Alison makes a mental note to ask Helena later if she would like a more _professional_ experience next time. That much peroxide is not healthy; there are so many toxins involved. 

“Mommy dyes her hair too! She says it’s to hide the greys—“ 

Mother of mercy give her strength. 

“That’s quite enough Gemma,” Donnie warns. "Why don't you guys go and look over the movies while the three of us talk? Pick out what you want from pay per view." 

"Movies are dumb, I want to play video games," Oscar huffs. 

Oh, no. Donnie is about to instigate another fight, and then what will Helena think? They're not perfect parents, no one is, but Alison does not need to see another round of Gemma and Oscar arguing about the Xbox or Disney movies. They can both have their turns, they need to learn to _share_. 

"Oscar, your sister wants to watch a movie. You can play after it's over. So go pick one out, please." 

Crisis averted, thankfully. Working from home has certainly helped in presenting a more united front with the kids. 

"Whatever, Dad." 

"Thank you, Oscar," Alison smiles. He leads Gemma into the other room and Helena watches the whole exchange with a furrowed brow. 

“They do not look like your babies,” Helena whispers when they are out of hearing range. Well, this isn't the conversation she'd expected to have today. Hopefully it will end better than the one she has regularly with her mother, regarding the fact that their children aren't white. 

Helena stalks closer to Donnie with a manic look in her eye, as if she's about to strike. While she'd locked up most of the obvious weapons, Fe had informed her about the melted pen episode at Art's apartment. “Was Donnie unfaithful—“ 

"Ali—" Donnie starts, only to be silenced by Alison's hand to his forearm. 

“No! Heavens no. They’re _adopted_ ,” Alison hisses and Helena relaxes slightly as her eyes widen in understanding. She steps away and sighs. 

“I was adopted. By Tomas. He made me do—“ 

“Well, that’s behind us," Alison interrupts. This is not the time to talk about all that Tomas did. The children don't need to know the gory details, even if she would like to know about them. Later, perhaps. "You’re with us now.” 

“Yes, sestra.” 

Helena is quiet for a second, and Alison isn't sure if she should fill the silence with something about food, or the weather, or the body in the garage or let it settle. She hates silence, and yet Helena seems to need it from time to time. 

“You are much better than Tomas. You are good mother. You do not hurt children.” 

How, exactly, is she supposed to respond to this? And why is she _crying_ over being compared favorably to an awful, awful man? She doesn't want to pity Helena, because Helena doesn't need pity, just love; but her upbringing—it could have been any of them. Alison wipes away the tears from her eyes and gives a watery smile, which Helena looks at with confusion. 

“No, we love Gemma and Oscar very much,” Donnie agrees. “We'd never hurt them.” 

“I protect your babies,” Helena promises. “They are family, yes?” 

“Yes, Helena," Alison agrees and gives her a genuine smile. "We are all family." 

"Good," Helena smiles, and tentatively steps forward. Alison furrows her brow, unsure what Helena is trying to do before catching Donnie's eye. His arms are urging her forward and she bites her lip. 

Donnie is anything but subtle. 

Alison wraps a hand around Helena's shoulder, drawing her in, and the girl clings tightly to her back. They stay there for a second and then Helena smiles against her cheek. "If Donnie is unfaithful, I will kill him for you." 

Alison tenses for a second and then relaxes. She would offer this, not because Helena even truly wants to do it, but because that's the only way she's probably ever been taught. Love isn't killing people, _although it may come from burying bodies in the garage_. Love is certainly not that. 

"That—that won't be necessary. I wouldn't ask that of you, Helena." 

"In emergency only, yes?" 

"Yes, in an emergency only—and not to family," Alison adds. One can never be too careful. 

"Only to bad people who hurt family?" 

"Only _what_ to bad people?" Donnie asks, and Alison waves him off. She's not going to tell him that Helena had offered to kill him only seconds ago. Then they'll never move the soap, and rink time is _expensive_. Donnie raises his eyebrows and Alison mouths _later_ hoping that he'll shut up. 

"Yes. Now, we'll be back in four hours. There’s plenty of food in the fridge, I ordered a pizza and it should be here in a bit.” 

“Do—do you know how to get pizza?” 

Honestly. Has Donnie not heard the stories of how much food Helena eats? It's worse than Donnie's brother Vinny, who is attempting to get on the competitive eating circuit. 

“Yes, brother Donnie,” Helena answers, rolling her eyes. “I open door, I give him money, I take pizza.” 

“Oh. Ok," Donnie mutters. "I'll see you later, then." 

“Do not worry, Donald. I protect your babies. Pleminnytsya and pleminnyk." 

"Thank you Helena," Alison smiles. "See you soon." 

"Goodbye sestra Alison. I will keep them safe, yes?" 

"I don't doubt that." 

That she will have enough food for the week, however, that Alison certainly doubts. But an extra trip to the grocery store is worth ensuring that her kids are safe, and that they get an introduction into clone club on her own terms. Her kids deserve to know their family, _all_ of their family, and she and Donnie can only keep lying to them for so long before they figure it out on their own.


End file.
